Thumb index for books and similar articles



Sept. 6, 1960 B. P. DE DUBE THUMB INDEX FOR BOOKS AND SIMILAR ARTICLES 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 14, 1958 Sept. 6, 1960 B. P. DE DUBE THUMB INDEX FOR BOOKS AND SIMILAR ARTICLES Filed April 14, 1958 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. 5429- f? 05 D056 BY J ArTo/ /va's Sept. 6, 1960 B. P. DE DUBE 2,951,712

' THUMB INDEX FOR BOOKS AND SIMILAR ARTICLES Filed April 14, 1958 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 IN VENTOR. 5962' P 05 0056 rroxyn/tys United States Patent THUMB INDEX FOR BOOKS AND SllVIlLAR ARTICLES Filed Apr. 14, 1958, Ser. No. 728,132

1 Claim. (Cl. 283-42) The invention relates generally to a thumb index for books, pads and the like. It pertain-s specifically to books and pads which are to be marked in a certain way, differentiated or otherwise laid out in a certain order.

' Books and pads are here to be understood in the widest terms of reference, as for instance notebooks, spiral books, ring books, calendars, telephone books, trade fair catalogs, encyclopedias or loose leaves assembled in filing folders or various other filing equipment. In all cases the article will be constituted by a stack of superposed sheets.

Telephone books are in some instances supplied with an alphabetical thumb index along the edges. The leaves are cut out according to the letters of the alphabet, and the corners which are open to view and arranged in a step-like fashion receive the appropriate alphabetical tabs. Similar arrangements are known to exist for address books, note books, for encyclopedias and for other books.

The disadvantage of this known indexing arrangement is its high cost. Leaves for the letter A for instance, have to be cut out differently from those which are to carry the letter B. These different leaves, therefore, call for. diflierent dies. To finish the book, the tabs-in thecase of the telephone book the letters of the alphabethave to be fastened to the topmost leaves of the various groups. Due to its high cost this known system is not suitable for simple calendars, note books and similar articles. In addition it should be possible to arrange note books, calendars, etc., according to the needs of the owner. The known indices are not suitable for this purpose.

The'primary object of the present invention is to avoid the above-noted disadvantages and to provide a thumb register for multiple-leaf books, pads and the like characterized by the fact that each single leaf has cutouts on one or more of itsedges. To these cutouts can be attached various prepared tabs which either can be bought with the book or which can even be made by the owner. f According to the present invention, each single leaf of the book or the pad has the cutouts substantially in the same place, or the locus of the centers of the cutouts lies in a straight line either perpendicular to the planes of the faces of the sheets or pages, or at an inclined angle thereto, i.e., non-perpendicular. Therefore, only a single die is needed for the whole book, as contrasted to prior arrangements where for each group of leaves, as in the case of a telephone book, a die is necessary to cover each letter.

A significant advantage of the invention is that the cutouts can be made when the book is bound and ready for delivery, thus achieving greater accuracy. In prior arrangements the various groups of leaves had to be cut out first before they could be bound in the form of a book. In this case there is always a possibility of inaccurate binding of the various groups.

Books incorporating thumb registers according to the present invention are provided at their edges with a number of cutouts. To these cutouts may be fastened, according to the wishes and needs of the owner, the letters or z,9s1',71z Patented Sept. 6, 1960 other symbols. These symbols may either be sold together with the book or they can be made by the owner. Thus the owner is sure to have a book which suits his needs or purposes.

For a better understanding of the invention as well as other objects and features thereof, reference is made to the following detailed description to be read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 in perspective shows a book having thumb registers according to the invention before the symbols have been attached to it.

Fig. 2 illustrates a part of the same book after symbols or tabs have been fastened to some of the cutouts.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of a note book which has been equipped on three different edges with difierent cutouts for various purposes.

Fig. 4 shows in perspective a desk calendar equipped with tabs according to the invention.

Figs. 5 to 11 show various preferred forms of tabs which are to be fastened to the cutouts of books or pads equipped with the present invention.

Fig. 12 is a perspective view of still another embodiment of a thumb register in accordance with the invention.

Referring now to the drawings and more particularly to Fig. 1, there is shown a book 1 equipped on its right edge with a number of circular notches or cutouts 3. These cutouts are alike from the first to the last leaf of the book. Therefore, they can be made in a simple process as by die-stamping after the book has been bound. In the case of a telephone book, the number of cutouts will equal the letters of the alphabet while in the case of a commercial catalog, a catalog for -a trade fair or a technical dictionary, any number of cutouts can be provided. The index then will be arranged according to the needs and wishes of the owner.

Fig. 2 shows in enlarged form part of the right hand margin of the book illustrated in Fig. 1. The cutouts have now been equipped with the tabs marked 4 which may display a letter, a number or any other designation. It will be seen that the tabs are attached to different pages of the book and therefore appear at different levels in the respective cutouts.

Fig. 3 shows a desk calendar with cutouts on three edges. The arcuate cutouts 5 on the right hand margin could for instance be used for a monthly register or index. The narrow rectangular cutouts 5A at the upper edge can be used for anniversaries, birthdays and similar family data. The triangular cutouts SE at the lower rim can be used for important appointments, meetings, fairs, etc.

The use ofthe cutouts for the purposes indicated is merely by way of example. Its flexibility is just one of the major advantages of the present invention. The tabs and indices can be adjusted to any purpose and thus offer the owner the greatest possible variety.

Fig. 4 shows a desk calendar with rectangular cutouts 6 on the right hand margin. It Will be seen that each sheet is perforated to form three sections, each for a single day, and that each section is provided with a cutout 7. These cutouts can likewise be equipped with tabs according to the needs of the owner.

From these examples it becomes plain that the cutouts as shown in Figs. 1 to 4 can have any form. If the cutouts as shown in Fig. 1 are to be used for rapid finding of a letter, they should be in circular form to accommodate the thumb or other finger.

On the other hand, the cutouts do not have to be large enough to accommodate printing or writing. Thus the cutouts which are shown at the upper edge of the note book in Fig. 3 need be only a fraction of an inch deep. In such case they will just show that anything of importance has been marked for that day. If the owner opens a note book at this particular page, he will find the reason for the notation, wedding anniversaries, birthdays, etc. It follows that the cutouts can have any suitable form. They may be circular, triangular, square, oval or any other shape. a 7

Figs. to 11 illustrate a number of tabs which can be used for books or pads equipped with cutouts according to the present invention. Fig. 5 shows a strip in the way in which it could be sold for a dictionary or telephone book. It consists of single stubs which can be perforated at the places indicated or it can be cut apart to form tabs 9, 10, '11, etc. The various stubs have the letters of the alphabet printed thereon. They may be gummed on the back or have an adhesive preparation. Tabs which are to be touched frequently should be covered with a transparent layer, as for instance cellophane.

Before fastening the stubs to the pages they are separated at the perforation lines indicated, folded at the line marked X and then clamped to the page, as for example the page which is to be designated A. Fig. 6 shows part of a page thus marked by a tab B.

In the strip shown in Fig. 7, each tab section, such as 9' and 10 is divided by the fold line into two portions carrying difierent letters, such that for example in 9' the letter A appears on the top face and the letter B on the bottom face. This is useful in telephone books or in dictionaries wherein the group of pages above the tab line is related to one alphabetical letter, and those below the tab line to the next letter.

Fig. 8 shows a tab which can be used to identify the rectangular cutouts shown in Fig. 3 at the upper edge of the note book. The notation consists of a printed part 12 made from paper and a transparent adhesive part 13. Adhesive part 13 is folded over and alfixed to the printed part 12 in order to protect the printed inscription.

If the cutouts are to be very narrow, the tabs should have the form shown in Fig. 9. In such a case, only the part identified with 14 can be seen when the book is closed. The printing identified by numeral 15 becomes visible only after the book has been opened at the certain page. The part identified by numeral 14 may be paper whereas the part identified by numeral 15 may be transparent adhesive material, as for instance cellophane. For reasons of economy, the whole tabs could be made from paper gummed at the back.

Fig. 10 shows an unmarked tab which can be marked by the owner of the book. The inner part identified by numeral 16 consists of paper, the outer parts identified by 17 are adhesive. As explained in connection with Fig. 5, this tab is again to be folded at the line marked X and then to be pasted over the cutout of the page.

To differentiate the tabs even more and to make them even clearer, they can be made in colors. Thus, for instance, part identified under 14 in Fig. 9 could be in color. Color may also be the only characterization of the tab. The tabs shown in Fig. 7 could be made in different colors in such a way that B identified with 9 would have a color diflerent from the B identified with 10 showing the beginning and the end of a certain group of letters.

Instead of folded tabs which are clamped to a page, the tabs could simply be made from one piece which would be fastened to the page in question either from above 01 from below and would fill the cutout in that section of the page. The tabs could also be made in such a way that they do not cover the whole cutout. Examples of such tabs are shown in Figs. 11a and 11b. Page 18 in Fig. 11a has a square cutout 19 which is to be covered by the tab identified as 20. Whe n attached to the page in the manner shown in Fig. 11b, the cutout 19 is only partially covered; The narrow strip-which'is exposed in the cutout may be madem'ore conspicuous by color or pattern.

Several tabs canbe pasted to one cutout Tabs in the same cutout should then be attached in a step-like manner in varying the widths and thus can all be seen at the same timefrorn above. Insuch a way itis possible to utilize a cutout inmore than one way without losing any of the advantages of identification at a quick glance.

In Figs. 1 to 4 the cutouts are all made perpendicularly to the plane of the book or article being indexed. It is also possible to notch the book margin at-an incline'so that from page to page these cutouts are progressively spaced relative to each other, thereby producing a like displacement in any attached tabs. This has the 'advantage of making the tabs more readily visible. This arrangement is shown in Fig. 12, wherein a bound book 21 having the usual covers is provided with a stack of super: posed pages having two arcuate notches 22 cut therein at an angle to the plane of the book, whereby each page has two notches or cutouts for receiving tabs as desired. From page to page the cutouts are progressively displaced, such that tabs attached thereto will be similarly displaced. The user of the book, by reason of the tab displacement, will be able to read all tabs at a glance.

While there has been shown what are preferred embodiments of the invention, it will be obvious that many modifications and changes maybe made without departing from the essential spirit of the invention as set forth in the annexed claim.

What is claimed is:

An index book and the like comprising a bound stack of superposed sheets having finger accommodating marginal notches therein to form substantially identical cutouts on each sheet in the stack and finger tabs received in said cutouts and attached to selected sheets in said stack, thereby to index said sheets, said marginal notches being cut in said stacks of sheets in a direction normal to the plane thereof whereby the cutouts to the sheets occupy corresponding positions, said tabs being constituted by a two panel folder which calmps on the sheets to be indexed and is readable on either side, a marginal portion ofeach panel having an adhesive layer thereon to facilitate attachment to said sheet.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS C. Merriam Co., Springfield, Mass, rec.

November 7, 

